FCC broadband plan update causes concerns

The FCC released an “update” on its national broadband plan – due next month — and it does nothing to calm our concerns about where the plan is going. The sudden focus on 100 Mbps or more broadband was our first problem. We think investment in the plant is deterred by a signal from the FCC that numbers that high are the inevitable policy future. Nothing but FTTH can reliably beat those numbers.

The plan update, released as a presentation, does nothing to calm our concerns. It outlines a series of national priorities that broadband will fix, except that for most of them there’s no connection with broadband at all or there’s no documentation to prove that broadband would have any impact on the area. In fact, much of it is outside the FCC’s jurisdiction; medical e-records for example.